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Mission to Moon

Ranger 6

ABOUT THE MISSION

Ranger 6 was principally designed to transmit high-resolution photographs of the moon before impacting the lunar surface and was part of the series of nine Ranger spacecraft launched in the early 1960s to explore the moon. Unlike previous Ranger missions, Ranger 6's only instrument was an imaging system. The new design made it the first of a new, third generation of Ranger spacecraft called Block 3.

Ranger 6 did impact the moon on February 2, 1964, but the power supply for the camera system short-circuted three days earlier and no images were returned.